Government told to butt out of Rayappan case
Malaysiakini.com
Dec 7, 2006
Beh Lih Yi

The cabinet has ‘hijacked’ the case of Rayappan Anthony by directing attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail to personally interfere in the religious tussle, charged an opposition lawmaker today.

“The cabinet is clearly in contempt of court. In fact, no one can hijack a case which is pending in court,” DAP chairperson and prominent lawyer Karpal Singh told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

“The cabinet is the executive [arm of the government] and the AG serves as its legal adviser. The executive cannot interfere in the jurisdiction of the judiciary because it is against the doctrine of separation of powers,” he added.

Karpal, who is also the Bukit Gelugor MP, was commenting on a statement by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday that the cabinet has asked to AG to look into the matter. 

“We want the AG to find out his (Rayappan’s) religious status, and if he is not a Muslim, the authorities should hand over the remains to Rayappan’s family,” the premier was quoted as saying in newspaper reports today.

Abdul Gani was quoted in The Star today as saying his role was to advise the religious bodies and ensure justice is done based on the laws and facts, as he has no jurisdiction over the syariah court.

Dangerous precedent

However, Rayappan’s case is currently pending in both the civil and syariah courts - which will battle it out whether to bury the deceased according to the Muslim or Christian rites.

“I hope the prime minister knew what he was doing,” stressed Karpal, adding that Abdul Gani should have advised the cabinet over its contemptuous interference.

He said the DAP was “closely studying” the case and that actions could be taken if necessary.

“Otherwise, this will set a very dangerous precedent and Malaysia will be the laughing stock in the eyes of the world. We can cite the entire cabinet for contempt of court because we can’t tolerate such a position taken by the cabinet,” Karpal said.

Cabinet’s consideration

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz however disagreed with Karpal’s contention.

Nazri said there were three factors behind the cabinet’s decision - Rayappan’s statutory declaration to the NRD, the final rites should not be delayed and there was uncertainty over civil or syariah jurisdiction on conversion matters.

“We have a dead man in the mortuary waiting to be buried and we know at the moment, the dispute over the jurisdictions of civil and syariah court (over conversion cases) haven’t been decided yet.

“Do you want to wait for the Lina Joy’s case decision to come out first? Do you want to have another G Francis Udayappan case whose body was lying in the mortuary for over a year?” asked the minister.

With this consideration, said Nazri, the cabinet subsequently resolved to ask the AG to sort the matter extra-legal in order to solve the matter.

Mais withdraws case

The body of Rayappan, 71, who died last Wednesday, is caught in a tussle between the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and his family members.

Rayappan converted to Islam in 1990 following a second marriage, and was said to have re-converted to Christianity in 1999 by way of statutory declaration before a Commissioner of Oaths.

The relevant documents prepared by a lawyer and executed by the Commissioner of Oaths were submitted to the National Registration Department, which accepted the declaration and reinstated Rayappan’s religious status to Christianity.

A move by the Islamic religious bodies to claim his body from the Kuala Lumpur Hospital to bury him as a Muslim has been challenged by his family in court, which insisted that Rayappan had died as a Christian.

While the family is battling it out the civil High Court to claim the body, the Islamic religious authorities have gone to the Syariah courts.

The family’s application will be heard next Monday while the Shah Alam Syariah Appeals Court will convene the following day to hear Mais’ case. 

However in a latest development today, Mais withdrew its application before the Syariah Court, paving the way for Rayappan's family to claim the body.

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